How To Keep Yourself Motivated

Find What Makes You Tick and Use It

Often, when we get ourselves ready to do something, we are not happy to do it. No matter how hard we try, the task just seems difficult, boring or both. Here is how to get motivated.

Decide why you want to do it. Nobody ever really does something because they "should." This is just our way of blaming some unknown external system for forcing us to do it. Find the honest reason for doing the task. Here are some examples:

To keep my job (raise your hand if this fits your case).

To keep my partner happy.

To enjoy one more success.

To be able to boast about it later.

... and so on.

Face your fears. The flip side, of course, is what is keeping you from doing the task at hand. Once again, it is easy to blame it on your lack of knowledge or the shortage of time or resources, but if you dig down deep, you may find these fears are what block you:

I am afraid of doing a less-than-perfect job.

I do not know enough and I am afraid to ask.

I am afraid of what comes after completion, which is my manager's feedback.

I am afraid to complete the task too quickly and I am not sure what to do next, but I do not want to be seen as wasting time.

... and so on.

Start doing something. Now that you are aware of your emotions, it is time to start moving. The nice thing about doing something is that your situation changes and with it, your point of view. Once you have begun, you will also be encouraged by your progress, and this will keep you moving even further. Try these first steps:

Look things up on the web.

Take a clean sheet of paper and simply write down the requirements in your own words.

Break the task down into smaller chunks.

Create a new document and type the headings into it.

Go to the nearest mirror, make sure nobody is watching you, and smile at yourself!

Pick a reward. This is especially good if step 1 has not generated a very long list. Choose something fun you can do or something you can buy and decide to do or give it to yourself after you are done.